Pink Lady Apple

A late-season Australian apple with a distinctive pink blush and a perfect balance of sweetness and acidity. Pink Lady requires one of the longest growing seasons of any apple variety and needs warm climates to develop its signature color. The firm, fine-grained flesh is excellent for both fresh eating and cooking.

Pink Lady is a trademarked brand and Cripps Pink is a patented cultivar, so commercial propagation requires licensing. Seeds will not produce true Pink Lady trees. For experimental purposes, clean and stratify seeds in moist medium at 35 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 to 90 days. Sow one-half inch deep in seed-starting mix under bright light at 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Seedlings will produce variable fruit after many years of growth and would need to be evaluated on their own merits.

The Season Plate

Your Pink Lady Apple Year

Composed for Zone 7 · typical seasons · frost passes Apr 2, returns Nov 1

Sow Pink Lady Apple Mar – Apr, pick Oct – Nov. Set your climate below and every date on this plate re-times itself.

Sowing window

Mar – Apr

re-timed to your frost dates

Plant out

after Apr 2

once frost risk has passed

First picking

around Mar 14

≈ 730 days from sowing · 2-5 kg per plant

Composed for —ColdTemperateMildWarmUse my locationUsed once to set your season · only the zone is kept

Week-by-week Pink Lady Apple reminders watering, feeding and pruning, timed to your dates

In the app

Frost alerts for your garden a warning before a cold night costs you the crop

In the app

Succession sowing dates so the picking never gaps mid-season

In the app

Keep my dates — free for 7 daysWe nudge you as each window opens · cancel anytime

Pink Lady apple trees demand a warm climate with at least 200 frost-free days and high heat units to develop their signature pink blush and balanced flavor. Plant in full sun in early spring, selecting a south-facing slope if available to maximize warmth and light exposure. The trees are moderately vigorous and train well to either central leader or tall spindle systems.

Pollination partners are essential as Pink Lady is not self-fertile. Good pollinators include Granny Smith, Gala, and Fuji, which overlap in bloom timing. Pink Lady blooms mid-season and sets fruit readily, but thinning to one fruit per cluster is necessary for good size and color development. The variety naturally produces well-colored fruit in warm climates but may struggle to develop pink blush in cooler regions.

Provide consistent irrigation throughout the long growing season, as water stress during summer reduces fruit size and quality. Apply fertilizer conservatively in spring, as excessive nitrogen promotes vegetative growth at the expense of fruit coloring. Prune for an open canopy that allows maximum light penetration to all fruit, since the pink blush develops only on surfaces exposed to sunlight. Harvest is very late, often extending into November.

Companion plant with chives and garlic to deter aphids and borers from the base of Pink Lady trees. Marigolds attract beneficial insects while adding color to the orchard floor. Low-growing herbs like thyme and marjoram provide ground cover and attract pollinators during bloom. Comfrey planted at the drip line accumulates potassium and minerals that can be cut and used as nutrient-rich mulch around the tree.

The Society Table

Chives belongs beside it. Walnut Tree doesn't.

Old growers' knowledge, checked against Pink Lady Apple's real companion table below — test any plant you're growing.

Grows well in the company of · 3

ChivesGarlicMarigold

Keep apart · 1

Walnut Tree

Plant Pink Lady Apple with good neighboursThe planner flags conflicts before they're in the ground

Pink Lady trees perform best in deep, well-drained soils with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. Moderate fertility is ideal; excessive nitrogen delays fruit maturation and reduces the pink blush. Apply a balanced fertilizer in early spring at a conservative rate. Potassium is particularly important for color development and flavor, so maintain adequate levels through soil amendments. Calcium sprays help prevent storage disorders in the dense flesh.

Ideal Temperature

Hardiness Zone Compatibility

Pink Lady apples are among the very last to ripen, typically in late October to November and sometimes into early December in warm climates. The fruit needs cool autumn nights to develop its signature pink blush over a green-yellow background. Harvest when the background color shifts from green to golden yellow and the pink blush is well established. The fruit hangs well on the tree and actually improves in flavor with extended hang time. Pick over multiple harvests as color develops unevenly across the canopy.

Storage & Preservation

Pink Lady apples store exceptionally well, keeping for four to six months in cold storage at 32 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit. The firm, fine-grained flesh maintains its crisp texture and balanced sweet-tart flavor throughout storage. They make excellent dried apple slices that retain their bright flavor. For freezing, slice and treat with lemon juice before flash-freezing for use in baking. Pink Lady also makes a distinctive single-variety cider with good acid balance.

Troubleshooting Common Problems

The primary challenge with Pink Lady is the extremely long growing season required for fruit to mature and develop color. In cooler regions or years with early frost, fruit may not reach full ripeness, resulting in green, tart apples that lack the signature blush. Sunburn during summer heat waves can damage the exposed side of fruit. The variety is trademarked, and only fruit meeting specific color and quality standards can be sold under the Pink Lady brand name.

Growing Tips

1. Pink Lady requires 400-600 chill hours below 7°C to break dormancy reliably; if your local winters are mild, consider a low-chill pollinator variety rather than assuming standard Pink Lady will perform in subtropical climates.
2. Because Pink Lady blooms late in spring, it naturally avoids most late frosts, but if a surprise frost threatens open blossoms, drape the canopy with frost cloth overnight and remove it in the morning once temperatures rise above 2°C.
3. Hand-thin to one fruit per spur no later than six weeks after petal fall — overcrowded fruit clusters produce small, poorly colored apples and encourage the tree to produce a light crop the following year (biennial bearing).
4. The pink blush develops best when night temperatures drop below 13°C during the final four to six weeks before harvest; if your autumn remains warm, expect lighter coloring but no reduction in flavor quality.
5. Consistent calcium nutrition is essential to prevent bitter pit, a physiological disorder that causes brown corky spots in the flesh — apply calcium chloride foliar sprays (0.5% solution) every two weeks from late fruitlet stage through to six weeks before harvest.
6. Pink Lady performs best in deep, well-drained loam soils with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5; if your soil is heavy clay, plant on a raised mound or in a raised bed filled with improved loam to prevent waterlogging and collar rot.
7. In high-humidity climates, apple scab (Venturia inaequalis) and powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotricha) are significant threats; begin a preventive fungicide program at green tip and maintain coverage through summer using products alternated to prevent resistance.
8. Reflective mulch film laid under the tree in late summer significantly boosts the pink-red blush on the sun-exposed side and helps color the shaded side of fruit, improving overall appearance without any impact on flavor.
9. When storing harvested Pink Lady, maintain temperature at 0-1°C with relative humidity of 90-95%; in these conditions, fruit quality is maintained for four to six months, meaning you can enjoy homegrown apples well into the following spring.
10. If space is limited, consider a multi-graft espalier against a sunny wall using Pink Lady and its pollinators (Fuji or Granny Smith) trained on horizontal wires — this maximizes wall warmth for color development while keeping the footprint to under one square meter of ground space.